The versatile canteen. This
one has been split in half for use as plates. Found together in a Union Winter camp hut in
Petersburg. The pewter spoon was also found in the hut site. The other spoon is a combination spoon, fork and knife tool. This was found in a Confederate hut site in Petersburg.

Every soldier had a canteen and it was one of his most personal items. For this page I have been able to access enough Federal manufactured canteens to show a fair representation of the most common types.

Another reason for this endevor is to set aside some misinformation circulating in the Reenactor community about canteens.
One example is the current thinking that blue covered canteens did not exist. I read one online article about canteens which stated: "federal
canteens with sky blue covers were extremely rare, and dark blue wool covers
were non-existent." I will agree that sky blue covers are somewhat rare
but dark blue covers are all over the place and easily found. The use of dark blue covers is also supported by Mike O'Donnell's canteen book on U.S. Army and Militia canteens. I am including a number of blue covered canteens on this page as further proof if there are still some doubters out there.

Canteen covers were made from all sorts of material and several colors but most had a cover of jean which was inexpensive. The color of these covers usually started out life as a gray color and ended up brown or tan. Many CW soldiers believed that removing the cover would keep their water cooler. Others thought that having the cover on kept the
water cooler. A survey at CW shows roughly half the canteens will still retain their cover. The other half may have had their cover removed while in use or at a later time. Brown jean covers are the most prevalent found today. Some brown covers may have started out life in a variety of colors. Over the years most have oxidized to a rust brown or tan color.

Leather canteen straps are also frowned upon in the reenacting community
except for early war. I tend to agree that significantly more canteens are found with
fabric straps than leather. However, there are numerous surviving canteens found with leather straps
which can be attributed to post 1862 manufacture or issue. Period photos taken around Petersburg in 1865 also show many bullseye canteens being supported using leather straps.

IF YOU WANT TO EXAMINE SOME CONFEDERATE CANTEENS OR EQUIPPAGE, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW. If U.S. canteens are your interest, give this page a few minutes to load all the pictures and enjoy.

When I first looked at this canteen I thought it had a burlap cover. It is not burlap but a fine example of "shoddy". Shoddy is he wool trash/fibers that are added during the weaving process to increase the weight of the fabric. Too much shoddy was added when this cover material was woven thus saving the weaver money but cheating the buyer of the fabric. This cover compares
very unfavorably with other covers shown on this page. This canteen had several
drawing points for me. One is the leather strap which compares favorably with most of the quality
reproduction straps being sold today. There is a break in the strap which has been tied together with white string. The second desirable feature was the fact that the stopper
string is still present, although broken where it ties onto the stopper. The
cork is also original and shows signs of having been in the canteen from day
one. Not shown in the picture, the joint where the two halves are soldered together is unusual. The canteen near the bottom of the page with the sky
blue cover also exhibits this type seam. The spout
is unmarked.

Here is an interesting specimen of a bullseye canteen with brown cover. The
letters U.S. are stitched into the cover with X stitches. The strap is made
from what appears to be a strip of buff leather. The strap is sewn together
and the sewing looks old.

Bullseye Canteen covered with stripes.

Star embossed canteens.

The embossed star pattern is thought to be an attempt to strengthen
the canteen. Notice the different spouts.

BLUE COVERED CANTEENS: Here are four canteens
that are covered with dark blue wool even though they appear in the pictures to be other
colors. The M1862, blue covered bullseye on the left has a Pewter
spout which is marked "RH Grantz & Co. Philada" and appears to have 4 or 5
rings.The smooth-side M-1858 canteen 2nd from left and the one on the far right are
generally accepted to be a product of the New York depot. The spouts are white metal
(Pewter) and the stoppers are attached with a jack chain. The bullseye canteen 2nd
from right, I photographed at the Gettysburg show of June 23rd courtesy of Dan Wendling.
The light was awful and the color of the cover didn't turn out well. I can attest
that the cover was dark blue like the bullseye on the left. Notice the blue pattern on the
sling. The sling appears to be webbing and not folded cotton. There is no jack chain hole
present.

M-1858 smooth-side canteen with leather strap and dark blue cover. Note
that this is the type of strap with the protector behind the buckle. The cover is marked
"8 43 which may indicate the 8th Regiment, 43rd man. You pick the state.

Smooth-sided canteen with a blue cover. I am not sure of the
material at this time but I think it is jean. Notice the staining around the
spout which appears to be dried mud. Also the strap has a knot tied in it to
shorten the length of the strap.

Here is another example of a marked canteen. The painted marking reads
"3rd Mass Co, H Hvy Art'y. The paint seems to be the same age of the
canteen and not added post war. The canteen is in exceptional condition. The string stopper keeper is still intact.

SPOUTS

Spouts were usually made of Pewter with the exception of the Cincinnatti
manufactured canteens which were tin. In 1862 pewter spouts were required to have the makers name on the spout. Since the tin spouts could not be marked, the Cincinnatti canteens were some times maker marked on the strap. The spout above is on a
bullseye canteen. It has a variety of letters which seem to spell out "J.A. POHRMAN,
PHIL. AD" Due to the many scratches it is not possible to decipher all the
letters. Spouts can have minor differences in length and diameter.

EIGHT RING BULLSEYE:
The bullseye canteen is also referred to as the corrugated tin canteen. The rings were added in an attempt to strenghten the sides. The Philadelphia depot started issuing bullseye canteens in 1862. The canteen on the left is identified to Pvt. Benjamin Mayberry of the 1st Mass. Vol.
Sharp Shooters. The 1st Mass Sharp Shooters were attached to the 15th and 19th Mass.
Vol Infantry. The spout has "Mayberry" scratched in the pewter. Cover and
stopper are long gone. The eight ring bullseye seems to be the most common of all the bullseye type.

FIVE RING BULLSEYE CANTEEN: This is another variant of
the bullseye canteen. It has the pewter spout and no hole for the jack chain. It cost a
whopping $25.00 in 1982. I used this for reenacting for many years until the interior started to rust. It is shown with a reproduction cotton sling and
stopper.

BULLSEYE CANTEEN WITH JACK CHAIN

It is the consensus among many canteen researchers that only New York depot smooth-sided canteens had a jack chain to prevent the stopper from being lost. These canteens had a corresponding hole in the sling keeper for securing the jack chain. Bullseye canteens were
always thought to have been issued exclusively with string for securing the stopper. This string was cotton or linen twine, 4 threads, hard twisted, 20 inches long, doubled together and attached to the loop of the cork wire and to one of the sling keepers on the canteen. Canteens with twine did not have holes in the sling keepers for a jack chain. The bullseye canteen shown above defies these generalizations. It is a bulls eye with jack chain and the corresponding hole in the strap keeper.

Shown below is another bullseye canteen offered on e-bay with a jack chain and a hole in the sling
keeper. I checked with the seller confirming the presence of
the hole in the keeper since it is not completely visible. The bottom keeper is missing.

M1858 SMOOTH-SIDE CANTEEN: USED BY CAPTAIN A. D. REYNOLDS OF THE
3RD VA. RESERVE INFANTRY: This is a good example of the tin spout Cincinnatti (some say St. Louis) canteen. Capt. Reynolds used this canteen while guarding the Southside Railroad in the vicinity of Danville Va. The cover is a course, brown jean material. The cotton strap is faded to almost the same color but it appears to have been white originally. There is no hole for the jack chain because the stopper was held in place with twine doubled upon itself at both ends as shown in the picture below. An article in "Journal of the Company of Military Collectors" by Frederick Gaede and Earl Coates estimates that between 746,000 and 1,141,000 of these canteens were delivered to the Cincinnati depot by various contractors. According to Mike O'Donnell's book on canteens the first contract for the tin spout Cincinnati depot canteens was let in early 1863. It should be noted that Cincinnati depot canteens also came with pewter spouts.

The tin spout canteen to the right was spotted at the Richmond North South Trader CW show. It is almost the same color as the Reynolds canteen although it doesn't appear so in the picture. It has the tin spout and most of the strap is intact. The unusual feature is the
surviving string attachment. Canteens with the entire length of string present are very rare. This canteen traveled from California to attend the show.

Here is yet another Cincinnati Depot canteen showing very
little use. It appears to have some of it's original gray cover color. I have also seen one of this type with a faded blue cover almost turned to brown. Notice the unusual
sling.

M-1858 SMOOTH-SIDE CANTEEN: I purchased this canteen in 1990 intending to use it for the 125 Manassas but decided to keep it as a collectable. It has a pewter spout, the original cotton sling and stopper. which is
secured with a tin plated jack chain. The spout is soldier marked T.X.D.P. Period
photos show that a great many of these canteens were used without the cover especially by Confederates.

VARIANT SMOOTH-SIDE CANTEEN

The below canteen was submitted by Bill Reagen. It appears to be a
similar type of canteen to the one pictured in the photo of a dead Confederate which was
taken at the Alsop farm near Spotsylvania Court House. Notice the butt seam where the two
halves are put together. This is the main feature common to both canteens. The Spotsylvania
canteen exhibits different sling keepers (only one is visible)and the spout appears to be longer.

The stopper and jack chain shown on the below canteen may be
replacements since no hole is provided in the sling keeper for the chain attachment. It
also may never have had one. The strap keepers also appear to be placed slightly different
than on standard US canteens. The spout, although pewter, is also slightly different than
the more or less standard US canteen pewter spout.

M-1858 SMOOTH-SIDE CANTEEN: The cover on this canteen is probably a post war cover. It is very interesting and gives a clue to the owners
regiment. In the center of the star on the blue side one can make out Company H. On
the tan side 144 is seen. Each side is different colored material. The stopper is secured
with a jack chain, the spout is unmarked pewter and the strap is a piece of raw hide.

3rd Vermont Canteen: Here is a smooth-side canteen with a rubber
fabric strap identified to to a soldier in the 3rd Vermont Infantry . The picture came off
of e-bay so I couldn't examine the strap closely. I have seen three of these type straps and all have the pants adjuster type buckel with the little prongs to adjust the strap length.

DUG BULLSEYE CANTEEN: This battle scarred
canteen was dug within 1/4 mile of the dug tin drum on the CS canteen page. It was found
approximetely 4 feet deep in a Confederate earthwork at Petersburg. The pewter spout has been sheared
off. There is a rather large hole through the canteen face and the exit hole is shown in
the picture. Both canteens came from a hotly contested piece of real estate which
saw heavy fighting during the Union infestation of Petersburg. This appears to be a six or seven ring canteen.

Here is another M-1858 smooth-side canteen showing the inspectors mark. It is
"T.S. Fray U.S. inspector NEW YORK". Picture courtesy of Gregory J.
Majewski.

This is a smooth-side canteen which shows a bullet entry hole in the left
view and the exit on the right view. There is an old tag which states that this canteen
was picked up on the battlefield of Chickamauga in the late 1800s. It was part of a
museum in LaFayette, Ga. until the museum closed in the 1930s. The pewter spout was
probably broken off when the bullet struck. The canteen has two small holes under the
spout hole where it was hanging by a wire. The two small holes above the exit hole are
bayonet shaped.

Here is a smooth-side canteen with a hole
in the spout. One theory is that canteens with the hole came with a water filter attachment. More on this theory will probably be found in Mike O'Donnell's and Steve Silva's Civil War Canteen book due out in 2006. Note the somewhat unusual spout. Besides this one, I recently saw another identical smooth side canteen with brown cover and spout with the hole. Also, there is a bullseye canteen pictured in Sylvia and O'Donnell's book (Civil War Canteens) with a vent hole in a more common looking spout